Late Antique-Medieval Studies Major

Late Antique-Medieval Studies (LAMS) is the study of the Mediterranean and Near East in the periods known as Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, that is, from the third to the fifteenth centuries CE. Late Antiquity witnessed the Christianization of the Roman Empire, the rise of the "barbarian kingdoms" in the west, and the emergence and spread of Islam in the east and south. Despite the competing political and religious claims, the ties between the greater Latin, Greek, and Arabic cultures that shared the Mediterranean basin in the Middle Ages remained strong. Not only did each of these cultures identify with an Abrahamic religious tradition, but each saw itself as an heir to the rich secular traditions of the Greek and Roman, as well as the Persian empires. Students of LAMS explore these fertile cultural encounters from a fresh, multi-disciplinary perspective with appropriate attention to the original languages: Greek, Latin, and Arabic. LAMS is a cooperative intercollegiate program. Greek, Latin, Arabic, and Classical Hebrew may be taken to fulfill the Scripps College foreign language requirement. Courses taken P/NC may not be counted toward either major or the minor.

Requirements for the Major in Late Antique-Medieval Studies (LAMS)
To complete the LAMS major, a student is required to complete a minimum of 11 courses plus a Senior Seminar and a Senior Project/Thesis. These courses include:

At least three courses in one of the following languages: Greek, Latin, Arabic, or Hebrew. At least one must be numbered 100 or above (103 and 104 are half-courses and must be taken twice to count as one of the three courses in Latin and Greek respectively).

At least five courses from the LAMS offerings, including:
LAMS History HIST 011 - Medieval Mediterranean and
Four additional LAMS courses (see below) drawn from the four LAMS subfields, (at least two of these courses must be “upper division” courses)

LAMS students are expected to work with LAMS faculty members to design a cohesive and viable curriculum around their particular interests.